1. Only one party is permitted, effectively making that party a part of the government and thus being equivalent to banning parties.
2. You have to be a party member to vote. This is available to those with a good reputation.
Those oddities don't seem to be disqualifying. The USA didn't begin with parties or universal suffrage.
Furthermore, I'd encourage spectramax or anyone this video if not seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs (Basically under a dictatorship you still need to represent the citizens in some degree.)
At this point I don't remember what I'm arguing and again I'm not an expert in social science who can contribute to a conversation on solving China's problem or the issue reported by NYT. I hope HN remains as a place where I can always see insights from people who truly understand the domain and can give constructive comments.